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Africa Cup of Nations 2015: Highs and lows

Following Sunday's Africa Cup of Nations final, we take a look at some of the highs and lows of the tournament.

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Written ByJack Davies

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Highs

Tournament actually goes ahead

After three weeks of action in Equatorial Guinea, it is easy to
forget the turmoil that overshadowed the build-up. Morocco had
originally been set to host the tournament, but then asked for it
to be delayed due to fears over the spread of the deadly Ebola
virus. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) rejected that
request and subsequently stripped Morocco of the tournament, as
well as ejecting their national team from the competition. Having
previously been barred from the event themselves for fielding an
ineligible player in qualifying, Equatorial Guinea stepped in to
take on hosting duties, while Morocco have subsequently been
expelled from the next two tournaments.

Equatorial Guinea make it to the last four thanks to
Javier Balboa's quarter-final heroics

Few could have predicted Equatorial Guinea's run to the last
four following their turbulent preparations. A change of leadership
at the country's football federation saw president Andres Jorge
Mbomio sack head coach Andoni Goikoetxea and replace him with
Argentine Esteban Becker just 11 days before the tournament was due
to begin. However, the host nation progressed from Group A as
runners-up, and produced a great escape to get past Tunisia in the
quarter-finals. Ahmed Akaichi's goal looked to be sending the
Tunisians into the semi-finals, but a controversial penalty award
in stoppage time opened the door for Javier Balboa to pull level.
Balboa then made himself a hero by firing in a thunderous free-kick
in the 102nd minute, although Equatorial Guinea's challenge was
ended by Ghana in the next round.

Goalkeeper Barry scores tournament-winning penalty

After a drab final went the full 120 minutes - including
extra-time - without a goal being scored, Ghana and eventual
champions the Ivory Coast were forced into a penalty shootout to
determine the destination of the trophy. Ivorian goalkeeper
Boubacar Barry had watched as attacking colleagues Wilfried Bony
and Tallo Gadji failed to find the net with the country's opening
two spot-kicks, and appeared in some distress - seemingly with
cramp - on a number of occasions. The decider went to sudden death
and, after all outfield players had had their turn, the onus fell
on the two goalkeepers to go head-to-head with their opposite
number from 12 yards. Barry kept out Ghana stopper Brimah Razak's
effort, before recovering from another apparent fit of agony to
fire his country to just their second AFCON title. A dramatic
finish to what was an otherwise low-key final.

Lows

Crowd trouble mars hosts' semi-final

Equatorial Guinea's first appearance in an AFCON semi-final was
overshadowed by events off the pitch during their clash with Ghana.
Becker's men were eliminated courtesy of a 3-0 defeat, but the
headlines were dominated by the crowd trouble that forced a lengthy
suspension in play before the last-four match could be completed.
Projectiles were aimed at Ghana officials and fans, who were forced
onto the pitch in search of safety, with governing body CAF
revealing 36 people were injured and 14 taken to hospital.
Equatorial Guinea were subsequently fined $100,000 and ordered to
pay the medical costs of the injured. The country's football
federation had already had to pay $5,000 for the behaviour of fans
at their quarter-final against Tunisia.

Mali draw the short straw

It is staggering to think that a tournament of AFCON's calibre
still allows for teams to progress or be eliminated based on the
drawing of lots. At one stage, it looked as though a number of
knockout berths would be determined via the method this year, but
ultimately, it was only the fates of Guinea and Mali that were left
to chance after the pair ended the group stage with identical
records. Fortune favoured the latter, but it could be the last we
have seen of the lots - used for the first time since 1988 this
year - with CAF confirming it will look into alternative
tie-breakers for future tournaments.

Algeria disappoint after setting the standard at World
Cup

Algeria headed to Equatorial Guinea as tournament favourites
following their impressive display at last year's World Cup in
Brazil, where they were one of only two African nations to reach
the last 16. The other, Nigeria, failed to qualify for AFCON this
time around, squandering the opportunity to defend the title they
won in 2013. Drawn in arguably the toughest group in the
competition, Algeria progressed as runners-up behind Ghana, but
suffered a 3-1 defeat to the Ivory Coast in the quarter-finals.
Coach Christian Gourcuff, who took over from Vahid Halilhodzic
after the World Cup, knows Algerian fans will have expected better
of his side, so will be keen to restore faith in his capabilities
as quickly as possible.